Farm-fresh

Davis Farmers Market, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, 4:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Central Park, Third and C streets;

East Quad Market at UC Davis, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Wednesdays, spring and fall quarters;

Sutter Davis Hospital Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursdays, June 2-Sept. 29, 2000 Sutter Place;

Woodland Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays from mid-May through October, Freeman Park, Main Street between Fourth and Sixth streets, and a new location: Woodland Healthcare, 1325 Cottonwood St., 4:30-7 p.m. Tuesdays, June 7 through October;

West Sacramento Farmers Market, 4:30-7 p.m. Thursdays, May 19 through September, 1271 W. Capitol Ave., West Sacramento;

Bryte and Broderick Urban Farm Stand, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, June 11-Oct. 29, Holy Cross Church, 800 Todhunter Ave., West Sacramento

When Janet Wagner, Sutter Davis Hospital’s chief executive officer, rings a hand bell to open the hospital’s farmers market at 10 a.m. Thursday, she will be opening the first farmers market on a hospital campus in Yolo County.

Located at the hospital’s main entrance at 2000 Sutter Place in West Davis, the market will be open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Sept. 29. It is the result of a partnership between the Davis Farmers Market and Sutter Davis Hospital that began in January 2010 to promote healthy eating under the slogan, “Good Health Begins With Farm-Fresh Food.”

“Opening the Sutter Davis Hospital Farmers Market is just another way we hope to achieve our mission to improve the lives of the people in our community,” Wagner said in a news release. “We also want to give our staff and people in our community information and the ability to make healthy choices that not only impact their bodies, but impact the community they live in by supporting local farmers.”

The Davis Farmers Market will manage the hospital farmers market, which will host 10 farmers, plus two prepared food vendors.

Market shoppers will find cherries and apricots, peaches, plums and grapes from Mt. Moriah Farms; organic strawberries and eggs from Grow Rite Farms; blueberries from Neilson’s Berries; blackberries from Bridgeway Farms; grass-fed beef from Yolo Land & Cattle; apple juice from Ratzlaff Ranch; olive oil from Yolo Press; flowers and melons (later in the season) from Yolo Bulb; honey from McDonald Orchard; and almonds and almond butter from Cabral Farms.

Later in the season, Zhey’s Farms will sell Asian vegetables.

Prepared food vendors are Upper Crust Bakery of Davis and East West Gourmet Afghan Foods of Concord. Hospital staff will conduct health screenings at each market.

The Sutter market will accept EBT cards and issue market scrip, and also accept WIC farmers market nutrition coupons for WIC mothers and seniors.

The market’s grand opening ceremony Thursday will include a welcome by Wagner, and comments by Davis Farmers Market manager Randii MacNear and Dr. Joan Smith-Maclean, Sutter Davis Hospital’s physician ambassador for the market.

Matt Ivler of state Sen. Lois Wolk’s office will present a certificate from the Legislature that recognizes Sutter Davis Hospital for pioneering a farmers market on the hospital campus. At 10:10 a.m., Wagner will open the market with the traditional ringing of a bell.

The grand opening also will feature cooking demonstration and tastings presented by Josue Montalban, operations manager of the hospital’s Nutrition and Food Services Department; health screenings; giveaways; and guest appearances by Sacramento River Cats players and the River Cats mascot, Dinger.

From 10:30 a.m. to noon, River Cats players will sign baseballs and visit with market shoppers.

“Some of the biggest health issues we face can be solved by shopping farmers markets,” MacNear said in the news release. “When produce plays a starring role in your diet, you have a nutritional profile that jives a lot better with healthy eating.

“Consumers want to know what’s in their food and also where it comes from. Farmers market products are always an easy answer.”

Market plumsW

Jessica Blickley, left, and Kristy Deiner, both of Davis, check out the selection of farm-fresh pluots, plums and apricots at the Davis Farmers Market in 2009. A new market is opening Thursday at Sutter Davis Hospital, 2000 Sutter Place. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise file photo

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